Bad Moon Rising

"And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Joel 2:30-32

 Several nights ago I went outside and sat down under a tree and looked up and saw the moon shinning through a hazy sky and the Lord said to me, "Bad Moon Rising." I knew at once He was giving me a prophetic Message for the body of Christ.

 In 1969 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival wrote the lyrics to Bad Moon Rising. The song was inspired by a movie but Fogerty admitted that the lyrics were about the apocalypse that was about to be visited upon us. Many times God speaks through the lost, the movie industry, natural events and even a donkey if He has to. Because the prophets are blind and the preachers are silent God is trying to warn those that will listen that the Day of the Lord is very near.

 Earthquakes, floods, droughts, famines, wildfires and tornado's have devastated the world with a greater frequency than ever before in the last fifty years. Thousands have been killed and injured in these catastrophic events and yet the church of the living God continues to sleep. God is saying, "awake, be on the alert, arise, the harvest is white and the end of all things is at hand."

 Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand: it shall come as destruction from the almighty. Joel 1:15

 SOUND THE ALARM

 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand. Joel 2:1

 The alarm is to be sounded in the church for the people of God to awaken from their sleep and attend to the work of God, to save the lost at any cost. The world is going to hell before our very eyes but the ones with the Message of life have locked themselves away in sheep pens of good intentions while the lost descend into eternal damnation forever. Like a great cruise ship the church sails through the seas of humanity, plowing over the drowning souls crying out for help while the band plays on.

 Everywhere you look there is sickness and poverty, demon possessed people wander the streets of America, drug infested neighborhoods poison our youth and violence covers the land like a choking fog and yet God's people ignore it and think, maybe it will go away. I can tell you in the thirty years I have been out there in it, it will not go away, it will only get worse. The gospel is the only remedy for a sin-sick world and the only medicine that will cure a lost person and save him from damnation. To change the world you have to change their heart and not their mind.

 The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ shed for all of mankind is the only cleansing agent that can cure the ills of sin and wash away its deadly effects that have stained the hearts of men. The drug addict, abortionist, homosexual, murderer, rapist and thief can only be changed by the application of the Savior's blood to the heart of mankind. The only hope for America and the world is for the gospel of our Lord Jesus to be preached without compromise and for the church of the living God to be trained and equipped to serve and begin the task of making disciples of all nations.

 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, "Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is your God?' " Joel 2:17

 GOD WILL SPEAK THROUGH A DONKEY

 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam. "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" Numbers 22:28

 God can speak to His people in any way that He pleases and if they won't listen He can speak through a donkey. In Balaam's case Moab was offering him money to curse God's people and God told him not to go thereby bringing judgment upon himself.

 Because of Balaam's perverse heart the Angel of the Lord was sent to destroy him and protect Israel from being cursed, but like many of God's people today he didn't have eyes to see the coming judgment. Not so with his donkey, she saw the Angel of the Lord and turned aside three times to escape the impending danger even though Balaam beat her.

 Body of Christ it is time to awake from your slumber and seek the Lord with all of your heart. It is a time to reject the worthless lies of your prophets who prophesy to you peace and safety when in fact the earth is being destroyed and millions are perishing without the Savior's love into a Christ-less eternity. There are great windows of opportunity opened for the body of Christ to reach the lost and in most cases it is not the clean white middle class tither whom they have sought.

 The harvest is white with drug addicts, homosexuals, prostitutes, not to mention the poor, crippled and blind that no one wants. God has sent us to the poor of the world, the dregs of society, those that desperately need the Savior's love and mercy, the prisons are full and overflowing and thousands are released only to be rejected by the church and end up re-offending. May God have mercy on us all!

 BAD MOON ON THE RISE!

 I see the bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way, I see earthquakes and lightning, I see bad times today.

Don't go round to night, well its bound to take your life, theres a bad moon on the rise.

I hear hurricanes a blowing, I know the end is coming soon, I fear rivers overflowing. I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we're in for nasty weather. One eye is taken for an eye.

Don't go round tonight, when its bound to take your life, theres a bad moon on the rise.

 John Fogerty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969

Your servant in Christ, Timothy Laughlin
Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ